Alright guys

From what I gather the subwoofer that can be ordered from the factory with the grande punto has its own amplifier/is an active sub. However does anyone know where it gets its signal from? Does the fiat headunit have a specific output for the factory sub, or is the signal spliced from the rear speaker input etc?

Regards, Fraser.

I believe that there is a connector that connects to the back of the HU but for the money and effort it takes to get a pretty poor sub IMO it would be better to fit an after market sub.

Has its own connection on the back of the Headunit.

punto_matt said:

Has its own connection on the back of the Headunit.

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Now i come to think of it isnt there a plug in the dash somewhere i have had a look through and there should be one which has everything set up ready its just a matter of pluging the connector in and running the wiring through.

You will probably need to buy the right connector but if you have that then yeah all you would need to do is wire it up and your sorted.

Thanks guys, exactly what I needed to know

I'll be getting the sub factory fit so that's not the reason I was asking. I've been looking at the plug n play amplifiers blaupunkt make, no cutting wires etc required to install them, they just connect directly with the head unit. It seems like a good way to beef up the standard speakers whilst keeping everything fairly standard, I just wondered weather it would effect the factory sub, which it won't.

fraserbottomley said:

Thanks guys, exactly what I needed to know

I'll be getting the sub factory fit so that's not the reason I was asking. I've been looking at the plug n play amplifiers blaupunkt make, no cutting wires etc required to install them, they just connect directly with the head unit. It seems like a good way to beef up the standard speakers whilst keeping everything fairly standard, I just wondered weather it would effect the factory sub, which it won't.

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Can we have a link because im not sure you ucould have both its that is what you mean.

If your gonna amp speakers then there will be cutting of wires involved because your gonna have to put the speaker wire into the amp and then wire the amp into the headunit.

punto_matt said:

If your gonna amp speakers then there will be cutting of wires involved because your gonna have to put the speaker wire into the amp and then wire the amp into the headunit.

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And is the feed for the standard sub actually taken from the speakers already but pre done in the HU.
If so then to take signal form the speakers twice wouldnt be a good idea.

This is the amplifier i was talking about (4 channel version, it's also available in 2 channel)...
http://www.blaupunkt.com/uk/7607792131_main.asp
Blaupunkt supply car specific adaptors for these amps, it allows the amp to take its input signal and power from the standard ISO block and standard stereo connections. Therefore there is no cutting of wires etc, hence the name plug and play .
The amp's are class D design so they consume a fairly small amount of power, and stay cool, there quite small aswell so there good for hiding away.

Class D is just for powering subs not speakers isnt it? and they dont do an adapter for the GP if you look at there list of adapters.

Yeah I used to think class D was for subwoofer's only aswell I doubt they'd say the amps were class D if they actually weren't though, technology must be moving on. And I emailed blaupunkt regarding the adaptor, they gave me the part number for the required one.

Right can we start again please i think that you are gathering information from different people and are geting confused.
What is it that you are aiming to achieve? Put aside how you are going to get there but what will the end result be? Do you want a standard Fiat subwoofer.

Max. Power (Watt): 500
Number of channels : 1 Channel
Stability normal mode (Ohm): 2
Frequency response (Hz) -1dB: 10-30000
Signal-/noise ratio at nominal power (dB): > 95
Distortion factor at nominal power (1 kHz): < 0,05 %
Type: Digital
Pre-equipped for Plug & Play: Yes

The amp has only one channel (in bold above) as all class D's are like this.

Well thats what i thought. Personally what i think that amp allows is for you to plug it into your standard headunit and then run a sub off that amp without having to chops into any existing wires.

Oops sorry guys, I pasted the wrong link in there, the right one is...
http://www.blaupunkt.com/uk/7607792130_main.asp
As it says on the website it's a 4 channel digital amplifier. What I was asking is would installing this affect the fiat factory subwoofer in any way, but when I think about it then it wouldn't either if the factory sub has a seperate connection on the fiat head unit or takes its signal from the rear speaker connections.

See i would look at that and think that that one will be similar to what i said before. You plug it into the headunit and it just means you can amp components without chopping into your existing wiring.

Also you are wasting your time amping the standard speakers mate as they will blow pretty quickly if you are upping the power in them alot as they are not built to be amped really. Your better off investing in some decent after market ones and amping them.

punto_matt said:

Well thats what i thought. Personally what i think that amp allows is for you to plug it into your standard headunit and then run a sub off that amp without having to chops into any existing wires.

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Was that to me or him.
Im sure that you can run speakers off a class D amplifier but as it has only one channel i believe (but dont quote me on this it could just be a feature on my amp) that 2 speakers connected onto 1 channel show a 2ohm load.
But i think i have got lost because i cant remember the OP saying that hes connecting speakers.

It was to you. The OP says he wants it to amp the standard speakers in one of his posts hence my last post^^

Class D amps can run speakers or subs Alpine PDX amps and the new JL amps are class D (and also tiny for the amount of power they produce).

Standard components not up too much then? My mum has a new VW polo and the standard system in that sounds pretty good, i was kind of hoping the GP would be in the same sort of league, with an amp improving the stock system somewhat.
I just liked the idea of not having to cut into any wires, being able to hide the amp away and keep my boot clear, and being able to keep the factory head unit whilst still being able to get some decent power the front comps. I havn't actually got my GPS yet, I still have a mk2 punto in which i've got alpine type-r front components running off a JBL GTO 75.2 amp, I could put the type r's in the GPS, however i'm betting the tweeter wouldn't fit in the stock location, and would i have issues with mounting depth for the woofer? With my next car I just want to keep things as simple and as stock looking as possible really. I don't want to have to drill holes for tweeters etc.